Random House Modern Library~100 Best Novels

Tips and Take Aways

Every writer started as a voracious reader. We all have our favorites. As you peruse the top 100 booklists which end every year, check out this list of modern classics as well and see how many you've read.I like this list because it has an answering "reader's choice" list on the same page. Do you think the books selected are among the top 100 or do you take issue with the placement?

Christmas Shopping Gettin' You Down? Here Are Some Ideas For You.

Tips and Take Aways

Being a writer, especially one in the early stages of a career, often means being on a budget--a very small one. Which can make this time of year a little challenging both financially and emotionally. Don't despair. There is hope. Check out my article about homemade gifts at AssociatedContent.com.

Give Homemade Gifts This Year
www.associatedcontent.com/article/88037/give_homemade_gifts_this_year.html

To Be A Writer.....from I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere

Quote for the Week

After all, nothing comes from nothing, you can't catch flies with vinegar, and you can't get yourself published without giving a little of yourself, don't you think?

~Anna Gavalda
Epilogue
I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere

Encased in A Vitrine--The Fountain Experience?

Word for the Week

vi·trine
(plural vi·trines)

noun

Definition:

glass cabinet: a cabinet or case with glass walls for displaying specimens or art objects
[Late 19th century. < French < vitre "glass" < Latin vitrum "glass"]


While reading a review of The Fountain on the New York Times website , I came across this word in the following passage:

" Ms. Weisz’s role is to glow and sigh, while Mr. Jackman registers various forms of anguish and desperation. The intensity of their feeling never breaks the surface, and the frame encases them like a vitrine. "

I had no idea what the word meant, so I turned to the MSN.com Encarta Dictionary online. I haven't seen the movie, so I'll have to share later, whether or not, I agree with the reviewer's opinion of the film.

D.M.H.

Characters, Graphics and Writing with Icons

Writing Prompt

In this media saturated age, most people have favorite icons, characters or graphics, Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty, horses (especially, horses galloping with the wind whipping their mane), smiley faces, a particular type of flower, lotus, roses, orchids, iris, etc. . Select one of your favorites and brainstorm a list of words and ideas which you associate with it. Select a few items and free write for a five minutes--no stopping and see what ideas spin from it. Your free writing can be stream of concious, use the words from your list to make a series of connected or disconnected sentences, etc. Don't self-censor. Just write.

NPR.org - In Literature, What Makes a Classic?

An Opinion On Classics

A classic is a story, a play, a poem, a novel even a piece of choreography that deals in universal truths and experiences, birth, death, love, vengeance and its costs, the thrill of attaining a goal--sometimes closely followed by disillusionment, etc. A classic also becomes known as such, because it communicates these ideas and experiences in a unique and if not unique virtuoso style. Alas, every classic which lasts beyond the era which first knew it becomes subject to the ravages of time and in turn translation, the ultimate English language example being Shakespeare. It's not that the work is no longer a classic, but instead that the work has lost a sense of poignancy for the generation which currently serves as its audience; the history and the experiences which shaped the work have become lost and the work in turn falls from grace. So paradoxically, a classic work may find that it has a shelf life--unless the generation which first received it and those following, make the effort to ensure its continuity and thus the lessons and ideas offered through it for the next.

Listen to this discussion on NPR.org and let me know what you think.

D.M.H.

NPR : In Literature, What Makes a Classic?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6519562&sc=emaf

*Listen to this story*
Please click on the headline to the story using a RealAudio or WindowsMedia player.
For players or technical support, please visit NPR's Audio Help page.
http://www.npr.org/help/index.html?showdiv=100.

*Order a text transcript of this story*
http://www.npr.org/transcripts/

What are your exceptional Thanksgiving memories?

Quote for the Week


I wrote myself a check for ten million dollars for acting services rendered and dated it Thanksgiving 1995. I put it in my wallet and it deteriorated. And then, just before Thanksgiving 1995, I found out I was going to make ten million dollars for Dumb & Dumber. I put that check in the casket with my father because it was our dream together.
Jim Carrey, Oprah Winfrey Show, 1997

Sudanese Student Exemplifies Fortitude

Word for the Week

fortitude

–noun
mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously: Never once did her fortitude waver during that long illness.

—Synonyms See patience.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Sudanese Student Finds Home in New Hampshire
by Dan Gorenstein

Day to Day, November 20, 2006 · Barnaba Madol emigrated from Sudan to New Hampshire at the age of 13. Assimilating at his mostly white high school was difficult until he became the school's soccer star.

Call of the Wild, Lifecycle, the Wheel of Life--You Get the Idea

Writing Prompt

Select an animal, insect or other creature that you find particularly interesting or inspiring. Make notes of what you know about its life cycle. If you need, you can take a quick peek at an encyclopedia or online reference site entry; don't get bogged down in details. You just want to have a serviceable outline.

Use your outline to write a story, essay or other piece in which the creature's lifecycle acts as a metaphor or features in some other way, great or small, in the piece.

Gore Vidal on Public Figures

Quote for the Week


Today's public figures can no longer write their own speeches or books, and there is some evidence that they can't read them either.
-Gore Vidal

How well do you speak?

Word for the Week

el·o·cu·tion
noun
1. The art of public speaking in which gesture, vocal production, and delivery are emphasized.
2. A style or manner of speaking, especially in public.

Source: American Heritage Dictionary

Boardgames Can Provide More Than An Entertaining Distraction

Writing Prompt

Select one of your favorite boardgames, Sorry!, Life, Battleship, Operation!, Trivial Pursuit, Chutes and Ladders, etc. Brainstorm a list of words that come to mind when you think about the game. Use your list and your experiences with the game to write a piece.

Suggestions:

• Write about how the game reflects some dynamic in real life
• Write the game into a story; think Alice in Wonderland or Zathura
• Write about a memory that you associate with the game

D.M.H.

Check Out These Markets and A Freelancing Article By Angela Booth at Worldwide Freelance.com

Tips & Take Aways


Freelance Writing: Five Top Secret Tips to Ensure Your Success
by Angela Booth

At least once a month I get what I call a "freelance, but..." query. The complete query (500 words boiled down to 25) is: "I'd love to develop my freelance writing career but I'm scared that I don't have the talent, and/ or that I won't find enough work."
http://www.worldwidefreelance.com/NEWS/061108.htm

Election Day 2006--Get Up, Get Out and Vote!

Sometimes the men and women who represent the citizens of the U.S. falter under the bureaucracy and mediocre politics of our government and illustrate an immense poverty of imagination and virtue. Don't allow disillusionment to disempower you. Vote today, so you'll have a leg to stand on when you criticize later.
D.M.H.

Quotes for the Week

Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.
House of Commons, 11 Nov. 1947Personalities > Winston Churchill


Inflation is bringing us true democracy. For the first time in history, luxuries and necessities are selling at the same price.
Literature > Robert Orben

Is Life About What You Do or Who You Do It With--Success = Merit or Nepotism?

Words for the Week


Merit

noun (plural mer·its)

1. value: value that deserves respect and acknowledgmenta work of considerable technical and artistic merit
2. good quality: a good or praiseworthy characteristic that somebody or something has ( often used in the plural )
3. ability: proven ability or accomplishmentShe got her promotion based on merit.
4. religion spiritual credit: spiritual worthiness achieved by doing good works

deserve something: to be worthy of or earn somethingSome people feel the award wasn't merited.This merits closer inspection.

[12th century. Via French mérite <>


Nepotism

noun

favoritism shown to relatives: favoritism shown by somebody in power to relatives and friends, especially in appointing them to good positions

[Mid-17th century. <>

Writing with the Bard--Use These Quotes from Shakespeare As Guideposts for Your Writing Practice

Writing Prompt

William Shakespeare's works rarely evoke a tepid response. People love Shakespeare's plays and poems, hate them or sit befuddled before them. Once I became accustomed to the sounds and speech patterns of Elizabethan English, I came to greatly enjoy his work. Basically, Shakespeare is worth the effort, however, much of his work is easily accessible to the modern readers or audiences which is what make it timeless.

I've selected a few quotes attributed to him which I believe speak to the writing life. Choose one or several to begin a piece or to critique a previously written one.

D.M.H.

Brevity is the soul of wit.

Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.

He is winding the watch of his wit; by and by it will strike.

How long a time lies in one little word?

I am not bound to please thee with my answer.

Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.

Things done well and with a care, exempt themselves from fear.

This above all; to thine own self be true.

Words without thoughts never to heaven go.

William Shakespeare Quotes

Are you looking for an e-book market?

Tips and Take Aways

If you're in search of an e-book market New Concepts Publishing could be for you. They're looking for romance manuscripts across a broad range of genres.

D.M.H.